Swedish Extravaganza

S. A. D.

H, who is almost 7, is scared of going to school. Terrified, you might say; although actually more terrified about leaving his mum or me than about being in school. He cries, has stomach aches and can’t sleep. After some Internet searching, I found he is suffering from Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD – who makes up these dumb names..?). Here are the symptoms of SAD. A kid with SAD will:

feel unsafe staying in a room by themselves

display clinging behavior

display excessive worry and fear about parents or about harm to themselves

shadow the mother or father around the house

have difficulty going to sleep

have exaggerated, unrealistic fears of animals, monster, burglars

fear being alone in the dark

Which all fit H’s behaviour perfectly. The thing they don’t tell you is what to do. And the “How to raise a child” manual we got when H was born didn’t cover this…

Now, when I went to school in good old Ireland, the choices were simpler – get your lazy ass to school or get your lazy ass to school with the application of a heavy boot to it. Cruel, but effective. And how many of my countrymen have mental problems after this treatment? Why, hardly any – not more than 50%, anyway.

So I need advice. Has anybody out there had a similar problem with their kids? And what the hell do you do? Any information or ideas are appreciated, even stupid ones.